Ensemble Cycle Speedway Club: Bringing young people from under-represented groups together with cycling
With the support of funding from the Geraint Thomas Cycling Trust, the Manchester-based Ensemble French Supplementary School was able to set up a new cycling club aimed at providing accessible and affordable cycle sport for everyone to enjoy.
Ensemble Cycle Speedway Club has seen great engagement so far, improving teamwork and spirit of the young people that have attended.
“Cycle speedway is very accessible and affordable, so it’s an ideal way to introduce newcomers from all backgrounds into cycle sport,” Mike Hack, Consultant at the club, told us. “It’s been a very important initiative.
“We want to raise awareness of a new grassroots sport discipline with potential to bring communities together and generate social capital. The project has generated much excitement amongst the Cameroon Heritage community in Manchester.”
So far, 16 young people have joined the club, with Mike and the team strongly hoping to increase this number year-on-year.
“It has enabled them to take part in fun cycling and cycle speedway activities within our locality,” Mike stated.
“We offer fun cycling activities on a permanent or temporary cycle speedway track, aimed at newcomers from black ethnic minority groups, primarily girls.”
The sessions focus first and foremost on building up cycling skills and confidence on a safe, off-road track, offering solo riding before confident riders take part in fun pursuit and scratch races.
Another priority of the club is bike maintenance, putting an emphasis on sustainability and learning new skills.
“A key aim of the project is to train youngsters in bike maintenance for potential job opportunities and long-term sustainability of the club,” confirmed Mike.
“It’s very important. It’s not just a case of the riders learning to maintain their equipment, thereby being self-sufficient, but also increasing their potential employment opportunities by learning bike maintenance skills.”
The Geraint Thomas Cycling Trust thrives to enable this kind of work to happen, and is thrilled to have been able to support Ensemble Cycle Speedway Club in its amazing project.
“The grant was invaluable in helping to get the new club started,” Mike explained.
“It was used for a range of equipment, such as cycling club jerseys, helmets, gloves, bikes and bike maintenance equipment, as well as facility hire charges.
“We still have a long way to go,” he said, “but we are up and running and ready to continue developing!”
With continued enjoyment and growth of the club, Mike and the team hope to see numbers increase in the coming months and years.
“We want to see children, who are traditionally not cycle sport participants, becoming members,” he said. “We want them not just to learn to ride a bike better, but to enjoy and improve their cycle racing skills, and also learn to maintain their equipment.
“The aim is to develop and grow the numbers within the cycling club, to ensure that the club continues to be sustainable by adhering to our fundamental principles of providing accessible and affordable cycling and cycle speedway activities for the local community.”
